A baby was reportedly decapitated while being delivered before hospital staff tried to hide the horrific circumstances from the parents by propping the head on the body, a lawsuit has claimed.

According to the Mirror US, grieving parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor, have filed a lawsuit against the Georgia hospital where the mother gave birth on July 9. Legal documents claim that a doctor used too much force and decapitated the child during delivery.

The parents allege that officials tried to hide the situation and urged them not to seek an autopsy after the horrific death of their son. The couple says that when they asked to see the baby. Officials wrapped the deceased baby tightly in a blanket with his head “propped on top of his body.”

The baby’s mother and father attended a news conference in Atlanta on Wednesday where their attorneys announced the lawsuit against Dr Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia.

“They were so excited about the birth of their first child,” said attorney Cory Lynch. “Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.”

The lawsuit details the horrific circumstances of the baby boy’s death during delivery. The baby got stuck during labour, however the doctor delayed referring for surgery and failed to seek extra help quickly. She applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, the couple’s attorney Roderick Edmond, who is also a doctor, said.

Around three hours later, Jessica Ross, 20, was taken for a cesarean section. By this point the baby’s heartbeat was no longer registering on any monitors.

The cesarean section removed the baby’s legs and body, but the head was delivered vaginally, according to Edmond. He went on to say that the couple had asked for a C-section earlier, when the baby still could have survived, but were denied.

Speaking to the media in Georgia the couple’s attorney said the case highlighted the higher rates of infant and maternal mortality for Black women. Ross and Taylor, 21, did not speak at Wednesday’s news conference.

Their attorneys also accused Southern Regional staff of trying to cover up the decapitation by discouraging the couple from getting an autopsy, encouraging them to have their son cremated, and wrapping and propping his body to make it appear the head was still attached. The suit alleges gross negligence, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified punitive damages.

The Mirror attempted to contact Dr Tracey St Julian on Wednesday, however, calls to St Julian’s office went unanswered, and an email message was not immediately returned.

Southern Regional Medical Centre said in statements it could not discuss treatment for particular patients due to privacy laws, but it denies the allegations against it. Its “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” were with Ross and Taylor and their care providers, it said.

“Our commitment is to provide compassionate, quality care to every single parent, and this loss is heartbreaking,” the hospital said.